I live and write on Lingít Aaní, and gratefully acknowledge the past, present and future caretakers of this beautiful place, the Jilkaat Kwaan and Jilkoot Kwaan.

This is kind of a long thought, a column actually, in the Alaska Dispatch News today.  It’s about the Klukwan artifacts returning to the new heritage and cultural center. But it’s really about faith.

I just returned from Skagway and the Northwords Writers Symposium, where I serve on the faculty, and where we talked a lot about writing and faith. Portland author Brian Doyle was our keynote speaker, and when he told us that writers are “story catchers” and that that it is a holy occupation, I knew exactly what he meant.